this post was submitted on 04 May 2025
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At the heart of all Trump administration policies is ‘soft eugenics’ thinking – the idea that if you take away life-saving services, then only the strong will survive

...

Enter Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US secretary of health, who regularly laments over the “back then” of his youth when he says that diabetes and autism was almost unheard of and obesity rates were far lower. (In his campaign videos he would often do this over vintage footage of white bodies splayed on a beach.)...

Kennedy’s myopic emphasis on personal responsibility as the main driver of health means he’s at best indifferent, and at worst welcoming, of the idea that those that don’t heed his counsel might die.

Yet health is never simple. By avoiding discussion of education, employment, social support networks, economic status and geographic location – the social determinants that public health experts agree influence health outcomes – Kennedy, in lockstep with top wellness influencers, is practicing soft eugenics.

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[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 98 points 5 days ago (2 children)

But it isn't the clever. It's the rich and uncaring.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 73 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Also fuck off with the "soft eugenics".

Eugenics is eugenics.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 21 points 5 days ago (1 children)

There's nothing soft about letting people suffer and die from conditions rich people can get treatment for.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If they kill all the poor people, who will serve them?

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 days ago

They're not known for their long-term thinking

[–] Obi@sopuli.xyz -3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)
[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 21 points 5 days ago

I guess it's supposed to distinguish from biomechanical eugenics where we modify chromosomes and whatnot

Uh, I don't think so... I think when people say "eugenics", they think of Nazis and concentration camps, "undesirables" and "the Final Solution", not CRISPR.

I think the "soft" is literally just there to soften the impact of the word "eugenics". There's nothing "soft" about this.

Eugenics (/juːˈdʒɛnɪks/ yoo-JEN-iks; from Ancient Greek εύ̃ (eû) 'good, well' and -γενής (genḗs) 'born, come into being, growing/grown')[1] is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population.[2][3][4] Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fertility of those considered inferior, or promoting that of those considered superior.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics

It's literally what they are doing.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 6 points 5 days ago

What?!? Soft rock is still rock; like hard rock is still rock. The two are the same!

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago

It's the rich and uncaring and white. This is a white supremacist program. The headline is problematic.

[–] Alaik@lemmy.zip 55 points 5 days ago (3 children)

They're not helping the clever breed. They're letting rich parasites breed.

[–] known_unknown@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago

This, they are literally anti intellectual

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 days ago

A lot of magas are poor. It's quite sad when you think about it.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Rich white parasites. There is a strong white supremacist strain in this eugenicist outlook.

[–] Alaik@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 days ago

And yet Clarence "Uncle Tom" Thomas is still benefitting at everyone's expense. For now the only color that matters is green. That parasitic power structure of rich leeches gets fucked and the low IQ run of the mill racists will be easy to weed out.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 42 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

They're not just saying weak as physically or poor, they're saying weak as in having empathy. They're saying if you're not a full on greed like trump, bezos, epstien, theil, bannon, stone, etc., you're weak. You're not a brutal POS? You're not one of them.

[–] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 17 points 5 days ago

They're building the cyberpunk dystopia the authors warned us against but "cool, sunglasses and cyborg arms"

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 28 points 5 days ago

Should clarify "clever" here. They mean anyone who can get ahead by any means. That means exploiting, cheating, nepotism, etc.

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

RFKJR is a goddamn nutcase, always has been...with the Kennedy’s…how could you not be? The whole American love affair with the Kennedy’s has always given me pause. They did some great things for the plebs, but they were narcissistic and primarily concerned with their public image, and they did some awful things to people in their private lives…I suspect that Frank Miller used them as a model for the Roark’s in his “Sin City”.

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 24 points 5 days ago (2 children)

They're going to let their voters die

[–] WasteWizard@lemmy.world 23 points 5 days ago (1 children)

They don't need them anymore. Every future election will be fixed.

For now, they need our labor.

[–] Litebit@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago

But this would wipe out almost every Maga.

[–] BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world 15 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Because clearly Trump has good genes.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 days ago

Elon Musk too.

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 10 points 5 days ago

Measles and other diseases will have quite an effect on the new right.

[–] selkiesidhe@lemm.ee 12 points 5 days ago

Clever and republikkkan are not synonymous...

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 5 days ago

Is this really all just to avoid paying taxes? Jfc

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

What the.. I thought this was a funny joke when I was like 11. Do these people all have brain damage or something? Is naziism a genetic thing that you just get?

How could you possibly think it's a good idea after being literally face to face with rfkj? You be in a place after him, and you need medical care. You can probably SMELL where he's been.

So, soft eugenics for people that want to be like them... Uhhhhhhhh, sure go right ahead, but do it like.... Way the fuck over there, and no, we don't want your nasty ass blankets. Burn that shit.

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 4 points 5 days ago

back then rfk jr, was busy getting freaky with carcasses to obtain his worm masters.

[–] thingAmaBob@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with these people? I mean, we could just push further with research and find a way to cure diabetes or disabilities instead of just “letting people die.” It’s madness, and I genuinely believe there is something clinically wrong with these people. But because they are in power, no one is holding them accountable.